The invention relates to the mount of a front seat passenger airbag unit in the upper area of a dashboard of a motor vehicle by means of a holder which consists of flat material and on the one hand can be attached to the housing of the airbag unit and on the other hand can be attached securely to the vehicle.
An arrangement of this kind is already disclosed in German Patent Document DE 40 16 681 A1.
During the folding process of an airbag of this kind two effects occur which are undesired or disadvantageous. Thus, in a first phase the unfolding airbag comes into contact with the windscreen which can lead to the latter being damaged. Furthermore, in a later phase high inertial forces occur during the slowing down of the unfolded airbag which are transmitted into the housing via the airbag connection and to the module connection.
The present invention is therefore based on the object of designing a mount of a front seat passenger airbag unit in such a way that these negative phenomena are counteracted.
This object is achieved in a mount of the type referred to above, constructed according to the invention in such a way that the holder consisting of a flat steel plate guided along below the floor area of the housing and connected there to the housing, with the steel plate projecting beyond the housing on both sides and being attached securely to the vehicle at a spacing from the housing in such a way that between the lateral ends of the housing and the mounting points of the holder, arranged fixed to the vehicle at a distance from the housing, the holder forms a deformable bridge area which serves to absorb energy and during loading permits the holder to rotate in both directions about its longitudinal axis.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.